Kesha Explains Why Online Trolls Can Feel So Powerful And Exactly How To Fight Back

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Kesha has been involved in a public and embittered lawsuit with her former producer and mentor Dr. Luke for several years now, and during the course of this legal battle she’s had to face her fair share of abuse online. The charges she’s leveled against Luke, which include assault and emotional abuse among others, also speak to her reportedly facing down bullying, and in a SXSW panel with Refinery 29, the pop star has opened up about handling this kind of toxicity on a daily basis.
Billboard attended the event, and noted some of the feedback Kesha had for the audience on how to deal with people online saying abusive things about you:

“I was making trolls, I was making bullies, I was making people I had never met before — who were projecting their insecurities on me, on the internet — I was making them the truth, the higher power,” she said. Clearly, putting people like this in a place of power is not the way to do it, but it is so easy to give trolls more power than they deserve. As someone who puts myself online constantly for my job, I’ve experienced my fair share of people projecting their own insecurities and ideas onto my work — it’s a near-constant, especially if you’re dealing with really tough issues like sexual assault and abuses of power.

She also opened up about dealing with her eating disorder, and how deep-rooted the disease can be:

“If you feel a certain way about yourself, your body — it can kill you,” she said. “I almost died. I came closer than I ever knew. By the time I entered rehab, they were surprised I hadn’t had a stroke — because I hadn’t consumed enough. I’m not ashamed anymore. It’s emotional because it’s a deep-rooted disease. It can really affect your self-worth.”

But none of this has made Kesha quit. Instead, she further expressed her hope that the internet be able to shift from the toxic place it can be now, and said that writing songs helps her cope with the fact that she’s been bullied:

“I think that the world should be a safe place, I think that America should be a safe place, and I think that the internet should be a safe place, “I feel nervous for [young people], I got bullied at school, but I got to go home and write songs.”

In fact, while dealing with all she’s been through, Kesha said it’s music and creating that remind her of her strength. She uses songwriting as a tool to build herself back up and help try to spread love and positivity:

“I have people that doubt me and try to get in my way, and people that are horrible to me,” she said. “I have a bunch of people that doubt me, and I have the strength inside of me — you have a lot of people to prove wrong. [That’s when I say to myself] ‘Get your ass up and write a song.’ I’m not gonna let hate win. I’m gonna win, and I’m gonna do it, and I’m going to spread love for the rest of my life. My goal is to be remembered for being a positive human being that did positive things to other people.”

Kudos to Kesha for being so open about all her struggles — I’m sure it is helping people out there right now who are dealing with the same issues. Here’s hoping the legal issues finally get resolved in some way, and we get to hear some of the 80+ songs she’s been working on sometime soon. I’m glad she’s still using music to fight back, and a note to other creative people out there: Your art can be your defense, no matter what you’re facing. Don’t forget that.

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